DAK seeks reimbursement of pension overpayments

DAK Americas' pension plan overpaid 15 former employees of its shuttered Navassa plant and now wants that money back, according to a suit filed Thursday in federal court.DAK's Retirement Committee, which administers the plan, said in the suit that a miscalculation of benefits caused it to pay too much to the employees, all of whom elected to receive lump-sum payments rather than an annuity. The manufacturer of PET resins closed its Brunswick County plant last year and 350 company employees lost their jobs.Individual overpayments ranged from $8,640 to $215,922 and totaled $1.851 million, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina.The company said in the suit that the money was traceable because it was in individual retirement accounts (IRAs).On Dec. 5, the plan notified each defendant by letter of the overpayment, including the amount. It requested them to return the overpayment and instructed them how to do it, the suit said. The letter also notified the defendants that the plan had an obligation under federal law to recover the overpayments.According to the suit, the company gave each defendant 60 days to keep the corrected lump sum or choose an annuity. That 60-day window expired Feb. 3.On Dec. 16, the pension plan gave each defendant a worksheet detailing how the corrected lump sum was calculated, according to the suit.Some plan participants who received overpayments returned or made arrangements to return the overpayments, but the 15 defendants did not, the suit alleges.The pension plan seeks return of the overpayments plus interest and attorneys' fees. It also seeks a temporary restraining order to keep the defendants from spending or transferring the funds.